About Us

The Tian Shan Policy Center (TSPC) is an innovative nonprofit, public interest organization focused on research, analysis, and implementation of appropriate and effective public policy in the nations and communities of Central Asia. TSPC specializes in the critical fields of strategic development policy, human rights, and sustainable environment programs, and through its efforts strives to strengthen good governance as the bedrock for efforts to better the lives of the peoples of our emerging countries. The Center seeks to collaborate with international organizations, foundations, national and local governments, NGOs and other civil society organizations and citizen activists, in order to identify best governmental practices and put them into place through this collaboration. In conjunction with this effort, TSPC projects provide opportunities for faculty and students of AUCA to engage in timely policy-relevant research and interact with other researchers and public policy makers.

The predecessor of TSPC was the Social Research Center (www.src.auca.kg) one of the few acclaimed research centers in Kyrgyzstan and widely recognized for undertaking serious analysis of various important issues in contemporary national policy agenda. Since its establishment in 2007, the Social Research Center (SRC) promoted research and development of the major principles and practices of democracy, free markets, rule of law, and social equality in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia. The strategic goals of the SRC were to improve and contribute to the policy-making process in Kyrgyzstan by carrying out public-policy analysis, proposing alternative solutions to current problems, and fostering substantive policy dialogue between government, civil society, academia, business, and general public. The SRC also aimed to nurture cooperation and dialogue between various policy actors – government, civil society, academia, business and general public – in order to diversify approaches towards solving socio-economic and political problems.

The Center's staff include graduate level scholars and public administration practitioners with decades of experience analyzing and implementing public policy at the local, national, and international levels. The strengths of TSPC are enhanced by its placement within the academic community of the American University of Central Asia and by TSPC’s respected advisory board and affiliates. TSPC has the right combination of energy, creativity, and maturity to undertake challenging projects and deliver incisive analysis and practical results.